O Hear My Prayer, Lord

O hear my prayer, Lord, And unto my desire

Author: John Craig (1564)
Tune: LEUCHARS (Hately)
Published in 7 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Oh, hear my prayèr, Lord,
And unto my desire
To bow thine ear accord,
I humbly thee require;
And, in thy faithfulness,
Unto me answer make,
And, in thy righteousness,
Upon me pity take.

2 In judgment enter not
With me thy servant poor;
For why, this well I wot,
No sinner can endure
The sight of thee, O God:
If thou his deeds shalt try,
He dare make none abode
Himself to justify.

3 Behold, the cruel foe
Me persecutes with spite,
My soul to overthrow:
Yea, he my life down quite
Unto the ground hath smote,
And made me dwell full low
In darkness, as forgot,
Or men dead long ago.

4 Therefore my sp'rit much vexed,
O'erwhelmed is me within;
My heart right sore perplexed
And desolate hath been.
5 Yet I do call to mind
What ancient days record,
Thy works of ev'ry kind
I think upon, O Lord.

6 Lo, I do stretch my hands
To thee, my help alone;
For thou well understands
All my complaint and moan:
My thirsting soul desires,
And longeth after thee,
As thirsty ground requires
With rain refreshed to be.

7 Lord, let my prayer prevail,
To answer it make speed;
For, lo, my sp'rit doth fail:
Hide not thy face in need;
Lest I be like to those
That do in darkness sit,
Or him that downward goes
Into the dreadful pit.

8 Because I trust in thee,
O Lord, cause me to hear
Thy loving-kindness free,
When morning doth appear:
Cause me to know the way
Wherein my path should be;
For why, my soul on high
I do lift up to thee.

9 From my fierce enemy
In safety do me guide,
Because I flee to thee,
Lord, that thou may'st me hide.
10 My God alone art thou,
Teach me thy righteousness:
Thy Sp'rit's good, lead me to
The land of uprightness.

11 O Lord, for thy name's sake,
Be pleased to quicken me;
And, for thy truth, forth take
My soul from misery.
12 And of thy grace destroy
My foes, and put to shame
All who my soul annoy;
For I thy servant am.

Source: Foundations Psalter: 1650 Scottish Psalter #143-II

Author: John Craig

Craig, John, was born in 1512, educated at the University of St. Andrews, and became a Dominican monk. Being suspected of heresy, he went, in 1537, to England, then to France, and finally settled among the Dominicans in Bologna. There, on reading Calvin's Institutes, he embraced and taught his views. Being accused of heresy, he was sent to Rome and imprisoned. He was sentenced to be burnt, August 19, 1559, but escaped at the death of Paul IV., on Aug. 18. From Rome he went by Bologna and Milan to Vienna, where he preached before the Emperor Maximilian II., who gave him letters of safe conduct to England. Having returned to Scotland, he became minister of the Canongate (then Holy rood House), Edinburgh, in 1561, and in 1563 joint minister wi… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: O hear my prayer, Lord, And unto my desire
Title: O Hear My Prayer, Lord
Author: John Craig (1564)
Meter: 6.6.6.6
Source: Scottish Psalter, 1650
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

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American Hymns Old and New #29

Text

Foundations Psalter #143-II

Include 5 pre-1979 instances
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